Why Putin asked for the Alaska summit

It was Vladimir Putin who asked Donald Trump for a meeting on Ukraine, and the White House picked on Alaska, the US territory closest to Russia. Everyone, including me, thought it was at least a positive move that Putin had asked for the summit. Trump leapt on the suggestion and the rest is red-carpet history. But, on reflection, it was actually Putin's cleverest move. He knew that if he requested a summit with Trump it would be seized on as a sign of the Russian leader's desperation to persuade Trump to go for a deal which would suit Moscow in every way. But, clearly, the cunning plan was very simple: Putin wanted to be back on the world stage and he knew that if he offered to meet Trump it would be greeted as a sign of weakness on his part when in fact it was a sign of his dominating strength. He got the full works from Trump, including a ride in The Beast armoured car that transports the US president around. All the world thought, this is brilliant, the war is going to come to an end. But Putin achieved exactly what he wanted. He trapped Trump into meeting and then because it provoked world headlines, he gambled, successfully, that if the summit didn't match up to expectations (which he knew it wouldn't), Trump wouldn't and couldn't then blast him with more severe sanctions, as he had promised he would do. So, the whole summit plan was a coup by Putin. He was able to outline his demands without being punished and then went home and continued bombing Ukraine. Post-summit, Putin is in a much better, stronger position, while Trump has got very little, even though JD Vance is claiming that Putin offered concessions. The concessions were so insignificant they weren't worth studying. So, Putin is winning, winning, winning.